Halfords lifts profit outlook as “unusually” warm weather boosts sales

Halfords Group PLC on Thursday raised full-year profit guidance amid strong trading boosted by the warm weather.

The Redditch, England-based motoring and cycling products retailer now expects between £55 million and £65 million in underlying pretax profit for financial 2027, which it says is ahead of current market consensus of £52.6 million.

At the mid-point of the new guidance this would be up 32% from from £45.4 million reported in the 53 weeks ended April 3.

In response, shares in the company, which returned to the FTSE 250 in August after a seven-year absence, jumped 11% to 266.50 pence each in London on Thursday morning. They have risen 91% in the last 12 months.

In a brief trading statement, Halfords said it has continued to outperform over recent months.

This reflects momentum in the underlying business alongside a “very strong” performance in seasonal categories, in part reflecting unusually warm summer weather.

“We estimate that this heightened seasonal demand has resulted in incremental profit in the mid-single digit millions of pounds,” the firm said.

Halfords now expects FY27 performance to be further weighted towards the first half of the year as “we accelerate investment in technology and marketing in the second half,” it added.

A trading update for the 26 weeks ending October 2 is scheduled for October 21.

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